Privacy Protocol Nocturne, Endorsed by Vitalik Buterin, Announces Shutdown

In the most recent update, Nocturne, a privacy protocol with Vitalik Buterin’s investment, has announced its gradual shutdown following the cessation of its operations since its inception last year.

Privacy Protocol Nocturne Doesn’t Give Any Reason Behind Closure

In their announcement, the Nocturne privacy protocol stated that it will gradually shut down its operations. This decision follows the shutdown of the privacy protocol they developed last year.

The company stated that the frontend at app.nocturne.xyz will remain open for withdrawals until the end of the month. Afterward, the withdrawal process will be converted to a self-serve system via their GitHub repository, providing detailed instructions on how to eject funds using their CLI tool.

“We appreciate everyone who supported the product and mission over the past year and a half. Thank you for the support, feedback, and energy. We wish everyone well in the future,” the Nocturne team expressed.

Hey all, some tough news. After shutting down the privacy protocol we built earlier last year, we’ve decided to wind down the company.

The frontend https://t.co/bDN4zxs1fH will remain open for withdrawals until the end of this month. From there we will convert the withdrawal…

— Nocturne (@nocturne_xyz) June 5, 2024

Interestingly, this development has come just six months after Nocturne raised $6 million in funding from Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital. They were supposedly working on key technological improvements such as combining zero-knowledge proofs with blockchain technologies, account abstractions as well as stealth addresses to bring private accounts to public blockchain platforms.

Regulatory Crackdown

Although Nocturne hasn’t given any specific reason behind its shutdown, the growing regulatory action against privacy protocols could be one of the reasons.

On the other hand, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has been a very strong advocate of privacy-based transactions. Discussions about privacy on the Ethereum blockchain have taken a new turn within the crypto community. The core debate focuses on whether Ethereum, as a foundational layer of blockchain technology, should inherently offer transaction privacy.

Vitalik Buterin’s viewpoint on default transaction privacy mirrors the analogy of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). He likens Ethereum’s protocol to the functioning of TCP, which operates in clear text, deferring encryption tasks to higher layers. Buterin suggests that Ethereum could follow a similar path, entrusting encryption duties to upper layers while preserving a robust base layer.